Oregon county expands heat dome lawsuit to utility, think tank

CLIMATE: An Oregon county adds a natural gas utility and a right-wing think tank as defendants in its $52 billion lawsuit looking to hold fossil fuel firms accountable for a 2021 climate change-exacerbated heat dome’s damages. (OPB)

OIL & GAS: 

• A Colorado mother and daughter team up to fight a proposed 166-well oil and gas drilling project in a Denver suburb. (High Country News)
• Chevron launches a Nevada ad campaign attempting to blame high gasoline prices in the state on California’s energy policies. (Las Vegas Sun)

SOLAR: The Gila River Indian Community brings the nation’s first solar-over-canal project online in southern Arizona. (AZ Mirror)

CLEAN ENERGY: Alaska officials say the state’s aging grid and its geographic isolation, which prevent it from importing and exporting power from neighboring states, complicates the energy transition. (Inside Climate News)

STORAGE: Alaska utilities bring a 40 MW battery energy storage system online in the Railbelt region. (KTUU)

EFFICIENCY: A Colorado city purchases 4,400 streetlights from Xcel Energy and replaces the bulbs with LEDs, saying it will reduce carbon emissions by 1,000 metric tons annually. (KDVR)

POLITICS: An Alaska journalist looks into how the outcome of November’s presidential election will affect energy development and conservation in the state. (Alaska Public Media)

LITHIUM: Southern California advocates and officials worry that a county’s plan to divvy up proceeds from a lithium extraction tax will compound existing inequities and leave the most heavily affected communities with fewer funds. (KPBS)

TRANSPORTATION: Alaska officials plan to integrate at least one hybrid-electric ferry into their marine highway system in the next several years. (CoastAlaska)

UTILITIES: California regulators say more than 11.5 million households will receive utility bill climate credits funded by the state’s cap-and-trade program. (news release)

HYDROGEN:

• A New Mexico electric cooperative looks to use renewable energy to extract hydrogen fuel from water drawn from an underground molybdenum mine. (Big Pivots)
• An Alaska geologist hunts for naturally occurring hydrogen reservoirs across the U.S., saying it would be a major new source of affordable carbon-free energy. (Inside Climate News)

COMMENTARY:

• California environmental justice advocates push back against carbon capture, saying it is not a viable climate solution and perpetuates fossil fuel burning and the resulting pollution. (CalMatters)
• A Wyoming attorney calls on lawmakers to acknowledge the coal industry’s ongoing decline and forge new business sectors that are not dependent upon existing extractive economies. (WyoFile)